Newbie orientation?

[Leeward]

I've noticed that many of our new members (those that actually bother posting after signing up) seem to make an intro thread, only respond on that thread (and maybe one other), and then disappear. Maybe it's the layout that's confusing, maybe there are so many places to go they don't know where to start and get intimidated, maybe they get bored, who knows.

I have a suggestion: have a sticky topic in the Introductions sub-forum like "What to do after saying hello" that tells them where they can start if they feel lost, such as the games and regionals.

When I joined up I read the FAQ, rules, and all that jazz, but it didn't really tell me what the community was like and what there was to do. Sure one can read everything and get clued up (like I did), but few are prepared to do that kind of reading before participating. What do you think?

[rusted hydra]

Yes a few(2) newbies have message me about what and how,

Main point is the quote system and me telling them to do multiple quotes in one post.
It doesn't bother me that people ask for help and I'll gladly help them but we need a sticky with some helpful 'first timer' info.

now all I can think is "Zafur tutorial level" XD

[Leeward]

I've had a few messaging me as well. I don't mind it at all either, but the repetition is a little tedious. I don't mean in terms of avoiding multi-posting etc, I mean in terms of where they can start participating immediately.

[Rakuen Growlithe]

I suppose if people are asking for info it probably couldn't hurt. Are people going to read it though? As I recall we used to have some basic info threads around the place but no one actually bothered to read them.

[Franky]

I still go on the site sometimes wondering what and how. The diversity of careers and interests makes it hard to hold a discussion for long and not everyone is a visual artist. We need a new angle i think.

[Ivic_Wulfe]

I have a sort of template (That was sent to mods etc at some point or another) but more to let furs know about activities in and around their areas to get them in contact with active furs. I will continue to do this as a, more 'specified' private message, if I am allowed to do so.

I was actually wondering if there would be a person from each province willing to interact with the new fur should they contact them which would help me focus my attention on people who come from in and around my province. If there isn't anyone then I don't see a problem in sending the emails or at least we can split the provinces between two or three willing helpers.

[Sev]

Maybe we could also have a list of the most active members and their interests? The newbie can then PM the member that he feels that he has most in common with, and then that member can act as a short term guide.

[Leeward]

I THINK, and I may be mistaken, that we can configure the forum to send a "Welcome" PM to new members, with our own content. If you want, you can write up a guide, we can lock it, and include the URL in all the PMs that go out to new members.

That's pretty much exactly what I had in mind.

I have a sort of template (That was sent to mods etc at some point or another) but more to let furs know about activities in and around their areas to get them in contact with active furs. I will continue to do this as a, more 'specified' private message, if I am allowed to do so.

If we use your template in combination with the above idea that would work great, but feel free to PM new members yourself as well.

Maybe we could also have a list of the most active members and their interests? The newbie can then PM the member that he feels that he has most in common with, and then that member can act as a short term guide.

That's an idea I really like. I for one would be more than happy to talk a new member through the loops.

[Ivic_Wulfe]

That would be one way to do it, however I can foresee issues with people who may be active and have all the interests but maybe not have time to 'deal' with the newbie. Not to mention that you're setting it up that "These are the people you have interests in, this is your comfort zone, never leave this place".

It is about exploration to the better part of it as well.

Not at all discounting the list but I'm also suggesting that discretion is used where and when necessary to be able to understand that the newbie would be in the best paws/claws/tentacles/hooves/disembodied floaty juice as possible.

[Leeward]

Maybe rather have people volunteer then? I'm pretty sure that after talking to at least one person they would feel more comfortable venturing into the depths of the forum.

[Ivic_Wulfe]

I mean the whole community representative thing as far as I used it was to "orientate" furs as well as to help with general queries. What I'm suggesting is the volunteering for community representative positions could be done like this. A fur for each province or lacking that a sort of split of responsibility.

[Leeward]

But see Ivic when I was new even though you messaged me I had no idea what a community representative was supposed to be or even that you were one (the only one). Maybe in addition to a welcome message we ought to make a bigger deal out of that particular aspect of the forum and add a few more?

[Sev]

I volunteer as tribute.

[Ivic_Wulfe]

I understand, again it wasn't an orientation so much as it was a helpful little nudge towards the fact that furs also work outside the forum and that there were several avenues. It was a bit of a pilot in all respects and I did ask the mods for some form of assistance in respect to it. With the new info I can actually see how we can mod it to work nicely within some form of system

[Leeward]

Well if Sev and myself form a sort of welcoming committee headed by Ivic that would already help, I think. And thereafter we can formulate a automated generic welcome message that links to a welcome post. What do you think, Ivic?

[Rakuen Growlithe]

On the other hand, if a new fur was particularly shy, wouldn't having all these strangers sending them messages just scare them off? I haven't joined new forums in a while but mostly what I would do is just lurk, read the stuff and then say something when it felt right. I only once made an introduction post. I think I'd be uncomfortable being put on the spot like that. An automated welcome message sounds best to me.

[Leeward]

Yes, one that point out who you can PM if you want more help. I didn't mean that we should spam them by default.

[Leeward]

So... should this be put into effect or not? As it stands Ivic has two volunteers for assistants (Sev and myself).

[Rakuen Growlithe]

Oh yeah. I got distracted with all sorts of other things and forgot about this. How about writing a draft welcome PM and I will look at whether we can send it automatically?

Edit: I can't see a setting for it and when I tried Google it looks like that can only be done by installing mods. Perhaps Ivic would be willing to take it up as a duty though. That way they still get the PM but by having a specific person send it we don't have the risk of a user getting overwhelmed by multiple messages.

[Leeward]

Here is a draft I threw together:

Greetings, new member!

Welcome to the South African furry community forums! We hope you will have a lot of fun here. We are a friendly and diverse congregation of furs and non-furs who gather in appreciation of the fandom and all things related and unrelated.

To help you get started, here are a few links you may find useful:
A welcome message from our admins
General forum rules
FAQ: this website
FAQ: the furry fandom
The furry dictionary
About the yiffy forum

If you're not sure where to head to next, you might want to create a thread in the Introductions section to meet and greet with everyone.

We have areas for art, gaming, and almost any other interest you may have, so please do share with us, we love to see what our people are up to.

And just in case you still feel a little lost, we have very friendly community representatives. Feel free to send any of them a private message, they will be more than happy to help you out.

See you on the boards!

I know that at this point there is only Ivic in the community representatives but I made it generic enough that it doesn't matter.

[Contrast]

I think that's great. Just one tiny little niggle. The word "congregation" is most commonly used to refer to religious groups, so you might want to tweak it. Wouldn't want people to think we're some kind of cult.
I'd suggest changing it to something more simple, like "bunch", but that's just my opinion. Other than that I think it's perfect.

[Faanvolla]

*chants* Join us, join us, join us...

[Rakuen Growlithe]

I'd probably have kept those links to just the rules, website FAQ and yiffy forum info. I don't think the others are that important. But it looks good to me and I don't have any problems with it.

Ivic are you willing to greet all the new members or should we assign a greeter?
I would prefer Ivic to do it to keep it more official and I think it should only be one person so we don't have multiple people sending the same message. Though that isn't to say you shouldn't greet new members if you want to. (Though probably don't call them "new member" when you do so.)

[Leeward]

The "congregation" thing was kind of done on purpose for humorous effect but I see how it can be misconstrued. Rather make it "group" or "bunch" then.

I was also thinking that only one person (Ivic) should send it, but if some extra people are listed under the community representatives then new people will have other options than just Ivic when looking for a helping hand, and it also lightens his load in that regard. Basically have other people there as backups who don't do anything unless a newbie asks for help.

[Leeward]

*bump*
Any conclusions on this?

[Rakuen Growlithe]

I sent Ivic a PM and he says he has been doing this since he became a community representative so I consider it resolved.

[Sev]

I never got a welcome message or any such thing from him. On the contrary, Ryall served as my welcome wagon - thanks, you mangy hyena.

[Leeward]

I consider it resolved.

Yeah um this was kind of a two-part proposal, the welcome PM is one part, the other is having regional community reps under Ivic's leadership who are just standby people that newbies can message if they want a mentor of sorts, and to whom Ivic can delegate.

[Rakuen Growlithe]

I forgot about that part. That was also proposed way back after either the first or second South Afrifur meet. I think it's a good idea. I was originally supposed to be representing the Western Cape but I would like to turn that over to someone. Are you interested in the position then?

And do we have volunteers for the provinces other than the Western Cape and Gauteng? Or not even every province but to match the areas in the regional section.

And I see there were some volunteers in an earlier discussion on the topic. I'll have to talk to them too.

[Leeward]

Are you interested in the position then?

Yes, within the scope of the forum, but I'm not sure I'd be the right person for the position since I've only been a member for about 7 months. Then again we can have more than one rep per region to give people some choice.

Or not even every province but to match the areas in the regional section.

That was the idea, since the region parameter on member profiles also matches that division scheme.